Mastercard halfway to Europe’s ecommerce transformation with passkeys, tokenization

Visa and Mastercard, the payments giants bestriding the globe, are pushing biometrics, tokenization and Click to Pay. Their vision is a payments landscape that’s at once more secure, faster and easier for the consumer.

Mastercard has set itself the target of transforming the online shopping experience throughout Europe by 2030, creating a checkout process where passwords and physical card numbers are no longer required. Instead, biometric authentication and secure tokens would obviate the need for those things.

In a progress update, Mastercard says nearly half of Mastercard ecommerce transactions in Europe are now tokenized. These tokenized transactions, which include Secure Card on File (SCOF), Click to Pay, and digital wallets, have increased by more than a third in the past year, the company said.

“One year into our 100 percent tokenization and authentication journey, Europe is gaining strong momentum,” said Brice van de Walle, executive vice president, Core Payments Europe, Mastercard. “We’re working with partners to make digital payments more secure and seamless, through Click to Pay, passkeys, and tokens.”

Merchant tokenization (SCOF) is live in 45 European countries and territories, replacing card numbers with merchant-specific tokens. Click to Pay has expanded to 26 European markets, with enrolments having doubled over the past year, Mastercard says.

Last year, Mastercard unveiled its goal of achieving 100 percent ecommerce tokenization by 2030. Payment passkeys and secure tokens are driving the change. Tokenization replaces the 16-19-digit number on payment cards with a secure token. Passkeys leverage mobile device-based biometric authentication to avoid passwords in favor of cryptographic technology.

Mastercard rival Visa is also engaged in progressing Click to Pay and its Visa Payment Passkeys, and has a new report indicating strong consumer demand for biometrics and one-click checkout.

“Mastercard Payment Passkeys mark a major step toward secure, seamless, and user-friendly digital payments,” said Marius Costin, CEO of Netopia Payments. “As the first European processor to combine this with Click to Pay, we’re proud to offer a faster, safer, password-free experience, setting a new standard for digital commerce and building on our strong partnership with Mastercard.”

Over the past 12 months, the likes of Santander, Checkout.com, Delivery Hero and Global Collect have adopted tokenization. Companies such as Autopay, Consors Finanz BNP Paribas, ICA Banken, PayU, among others have adopted Click to Pay. While Dintero, Netopia and Solidgate are leveraging payment passkeys.

“We want to offer the best and most secure payment alternatives to our customers,” said Matias Sanchez, global head of cards and digital solutions, Santander.

“With tokenization, their card details are better protected, making checkout easier, faster, and more secure,” Sanchez continued. “Partnering with Mastercard allows us to bring this extra layer of safety, therefore Click to Pay is one of our top priorities.”

Mastercard says it will continue partnering across the region to expand access, raise consumer awareness and accelerate adoption as it advances toward 100 percent tokenization and authentication by 2030.

Article Topics

biometric authentication  |  biometric payments  |  biometrics  |  digital payments  |  ecommerce  |  Mastercard  |  payment passkey  |  tokenization